The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Salvus Wealth Management LLC

Salvus Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 25,059 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 428 shares during the period. Progressive makes up 4.4% of Salvus Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Salvus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $7,092,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.3% in the first quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 34,185 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $9,675,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 107.7% during the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 6,105 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,728,000 after purchasing an additional 3,165 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Group grew its position in Progressive by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Channel Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at $2,490,000. Finally, Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,219 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 price target on shares of Progressive and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.59.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $282.18 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $201.34 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $165.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $276.36 and a 200-day moving average of $264.11.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.87 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares in the company, valued at $180,891.35. This trade represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,696 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $479,391.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 26,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,546,174.02. This trade represents a 5.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 37,755 shares of company stock worth $10,367,074 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Company Profile

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.